Saturday, October 31, 2015

Just a super quick one. I just realized I forgot to post these little cuties … and since it IS Halloween …

Ta-Da!! I threw these little rest bags together in a matter of minutes! My BFF is doing over tonight for some Halloween shenanigans and I have a special little treat for her. A special treat calls for a special bag, right??

I grabbed a few loot bags I had left over from one of the kids' birthday partys and my box of "leftovers". Whenever I have extra pieces from a kit or project I throw them in a special box (it also can be raided by one of the girls when they are making a card for someone). I had LOTS of pieces left over from my Witch Hat Decor Project Kit. I simply layered them, stapled them to the bag and tied it with some retired ribbon. DONE! LOVE cute packaging!

I'm off to the craft cave to tweak some Christmas cards. I whipped up FIVE last night … but only *love* two of them.

OK! Halloween! Ready for it? We are! Well … when I say "we" I mean Craig and the kids are. To be honest Halloween is not my "thing". I could quite happily have it removed from the calendar and move right on in to Christmas. I dunno - maybe it's because I never had a particularly cool costume as a kid. I don't remember many of them but I DO remember being stressed out about FINDING a costume. Of course back in the day we didn't just go out an buy a costume - you made one from what you had already. I struggled with that and more than once ended up wearing my Dad's robe with a pillow tied to my stomach, curlers in my hair and carrying a coffee cup. Yup - I went as a housewife! *lol* Hmmm …. let's HOPE that's not how I look everyday now that I AM a housewife!

Today's going to be a long day. The kids (and Craig) are excited about the fun of tonight (whilst Halloween is not MY favourite gig of the year it IS Craig's! … he traditionally takes one or two days off work to set up the garage as a haunted house to traumatize the children!) - and after Trick-or-Treating there will be a Halloween party and sleepover with 4 guests. Of course it's daylight savings time tonight so there will seem like and extra hour to recover from the "fun" … but of course that also means and extra long day for the kids to ingest coma-inducing amounts of sugar! Oi! I may need to stock up on Aspirin!

OK - enough about that - let's check out a project, shall we?

I can't take credit for this one - total CASE from … who else … the fabulous Mary Fis over at www.stampinpretty.com ...

Love it! This is one of the cards I used for a private class last month. The ladies wanted many birthday cards and I was running out of time so I turned to Mary (as I often do). Why reinvent the wheel, right? A great card is a great card and this one totally fits the bill!

Te set uses the set You've Got This from the main catalogue. You just HAVE to love making a card that only uses one stamp set! The colours used are Bermuda Bay, Crumb Cake and Whisper White. It is a ridiculously quick and easy card! For a little dimension and interest I added some gold sequins (from the gold sequin trim), popped a banner up on dimenionals and wrapped some gold Baker's Twine behind it. Seriously quick and easy.

That's it for today. Have fun with your Halloween, whatever you get up to … and have a stampy day!

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Project Day! Today I'm sharing some cards I made a few weeks back. Remember I had a little baby-boom in my circle of friends? Yup - the babies have arrived and I needed more baby cards. Here's what I came up with:

So cute! The bottom left work well for a baptism/christening. The others are good ole' generic baby cards. I made blue, pink and purple. I can use the purple for pregnancy announcements. Bases covered!

The purple one didn't use any embossing - but I preferred the soft little dots on the other so most used the polka dot folder (retired). I used one of my first (retired) baby stamp sets (A Little Someone) for the baby bottles and the sentiment from one of the current sets. They are punched out, matted and popped up with dimensionals. I used seam binding ribbon on all.

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Yay! A card to share this morning! This card was inspired by the 2015 Holiday Catalogue. I kinda love this set!

I love this colour combination - White, Black, Crumb Cake.

The stamp set is Winter Wishes. I stamped all of the images with Archival Black ink (what a surprise!). I then use my White Gel Pen to highlight parts to look like snow. For anyone who came to my class and was ready to pitch the gel pen out the window just know that yes, the one I had was dodgy! I bought a new one and it works like a charm!!

The sentiment was made using the Banner Punch (love that punch!) and popped up on dimensionals. A pop of colour was added using an enamel dot - these things ROCK! They add texture and dimension but not postage!

Quick and easy - and great for Christmas or winter birthdays. I plan to play with this set a lot more in the coming month.

Monday, October 26, 2015

Didn't plan to craft this morning but that's what happened! Alicia came down with a cold yesterday and I thought I'd let her sleep in - she is definitely under slept! I think it was the right call …she slept until 10:50 am!!

While I don't like having a poorly poppet I DO like having an excuse to spend two hours quietly crafting to start my day!

I needed treats for my Club Gals this month. I had a few ideas flying around but settled on these little cuties ...

Aren't they "Totes Adorbs"? lol - I'm so hip, aren't I? Down with the lingo of the tweens! lol.

I LOVE these little packages! When I was in my Craft Cave the other day I tried to get to my desk. As usual it was a total pig pen in there and my shoulder knocked something off the shelf as I tried to squeeze by. What fell were these cute little polka dot bags. The are PERFECT for gift giving - especially CHRISTMAS gift giving! You get 10 in a pack for $5. Can't beat that with a stick, as Dad would say!

I popped some treats inside (some tea and biscuits - thank you once again Costco!) and taped them shut with some Washi Tape. The gold tape is from the Winter Wonderland tape that is in the 2015 Holiday Catalogue and the black is from the Everyday Chic tape that is in the main catalogue. I then proceeded to make the tag. I used the Wonderland DSP (Holiday Catty), Basic Black and Gold Foil as follows:

6" x 1" - black
5" x 1 1/2" - DSP
4 1/4" x 2" - gold

Each strip was punched with the Banner Punch to make the dove-tail bottom. I cranked out "Joy" using my Wondrous Wreath Framelits and my Fine Tip Glue Pen (on back order until November 15th *sigh*) to attach it. It took me 2 hours to make 15 from stat to finish but it was worth it. a) I love how they turned out b) I got to spend 2 hours truly relaxing and c) my Gals are totally worth it!

So there you have it - an awesome treat packaging idea for you WAY ahead of schedule. ORder up the bags so you have them on hand when just such sick-day-crafting-opportunities arise!

Time for another video. Today we're checking out the new Hello December Project Life kit. I love this for my 25 Days of Trixie, our beloved Elf on the Shelf. Of course you can use them to document 25 Days of December or you can use them for decor crafts or cards … so many options!

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Phew! Today is the 5th stamping gig I've done in as many days. My back is NOT happy! Alas, a crafter's gotta do what a crafter's gotta do!

These were the cards I was originally going to do for today's Stamp-a-Stack:

I love ALL of them … but in the end I decided to switch out the Nut Cracker card for this one:

Why? The Nut Cracker card is super cute but it IS time consuming (between the colouring and the Big Shotting (yes, it's a word!) of the Falala … and it is a costly card due to the 3 rhinestones and enamel dot … so …. I swapped it for the Snowflake card. Equally as awesome but a lot faster and more economical.

I used Soft Sky ink and the Watercolor background stamp. I used the Flurry of Wishes stamp set and coordinating punch for the snowflakes . The largest one is stamped in my favourite - Archival Black Ink. The smaller ones are i Lost Lagoon - punched out and popped up on dimensionals. I then used ermuda Bay, Blushing Bride and Silver sequins taken off their sequin trim "ribbon" and attached them with the Fine Tip Glue pen. The sentiment is from the same Flurry of Wishes set, in the Archival Black ink (yes, I now own 5 of them *lol*)

Friday, October 23, 2015

Another busy day - gym, dog walking, errands, class tonight. Busy - but just the right amount of busy. All good!

Speaking of good … have you ever tried the Biscotti that you can get at Costco at this time of year? Well … they sell biscotti all year round but only about 3 weeks ago did they bring out the individually wrapped boxes of 18 again … they are $9.99 for 18 so they are a nice thing to have around for company and/or for gift giving. Here is a SUPER quick and easy packaging idea. I've used it more than once for Teacher Treats and Club-Gal gifts:

They really are SO quick to make! You just use the largest "Label Collection" Framelit to cut out the wrapper using your favourite DSP and wrap it around the Biscotti. This year I grabbed the delicious Lace Trim In Colour Ribbon to wrap and tie around the paper (after punching a hole in the top using my crop-a-dile). I made a tag using my tag punch and an exclusive Paper Pumpkin stamp set. Done! Took NO time at all to whip up 18 of them. It's GREAT to have a stash of these on hand for an and all occasions! Give it a whirl! Don't have the framelit? Come to Craft Night next month and use mine!

Right! Should get this day under way! What ever you get up to - have a stampy day!

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Another early start to the day. Woke up at 4:40 am. TRIED to go back to sleep alas a) I HAD slept 7 hours (went to bed at 915 pm and prayed the phone wouldn't ring to wake me up!) b) my back was aching after Stamp Club with 26 kids at Alicia's school (and my gym workout likely didn't help either!) and c) I had to pee … so I got p at 5:30 am. It's now 8:54 am - house is tidy, dishes are done, a load of laundry is drying, breakfast is eaten and I don't feel like rotating my tired arse off the couch so thought I'd post some videos and projects before walking Doodle Dog!

First up I thought I'd post a video of the Festive Flower Punch. This one's for you, Mary! Mary just ordered the punch - one of the few Holiday Catalogue items I haven't bought … yet … so thought I'd check it out. Chances are pretty good it will end up on my order that is going in Friday ('cause don't forget all regular priced stamp sets are 15% off until Friday at 11:50 pm!!)

The only thing I would do differently with this punch is to use a hot glue gun. I would likely lose my s*** in about 3 minutes using regular glue!!

Check out the video (email me today with anything you want to add to my Friday order) and have a stampy day! (… and pop in again tomorrow to check out a project!)

Monday, October 19, 2015

What a great day. Craig had the day off so after voting (did yOU vote yet??!!!) we went out (at long last) to look for a new couch for the living room. Yes, the renovations are never ending … to think it all started with Craig wanting a new kitchen counter top. *sigh* I'm happy to report we found a lovely char-and-a-half for Koda and me … and a love seat for other people. Can't wait for them to get here! After that it was off for a lovely lunch date at Halong Bay, a little hole-in-the-wall I've been wanting to try for some time now YUM! I love Vietnamese food and this place was great! Good prices, LOTS of food and fresh fresh fresh. No one likes a soggy bean sprout! We'll definitely go back again!

So here I sit while Craig heads to school to pick up Alicia. Thought I'd post my newest favourite card (yes - I AM aware I change my favourite as often as I change my socks!).

OH! Before I get to my lovely card I almost forgot! Today is the start of a 5 DAY promotion …. all regular prices stamp sets are 15% off until October 23rd!!! I'm placing an order Friday night at 7:00 pm if there any sets you would like - THIS is the time to get them! Even better …. if you have over $100 worth of things you like this would be a great time to get the Starter Kit. You can pick ANY items from ANY current catalogue (and Clearance Rack!!) as part of your kit. If you pick the discounted stamp sets you can get a LOT of stuff!! You get at LEAST $155 worth of stuff (much more if you pick the discounted stamp sets!) but you only pay $125 flat (no s/h/gst) and there are no obligation to sell anything or do anything other than enjoy your discounted products. Seriously, It's a great deal! Contact me before 6:00 pm Friday night if you are interested in ordering product or if you would like more information about buying the Starter Kit.

Right! Back to my card …

I went down to the Craft Cave last night to try to come up with a few more Christmas cards for my upcoming Stamp-a-Stack. I thought would take inspiration from a card Rebecca made for BFF a few hours earlier …

I thought she did such a great job! I wasn't even home when she made it so she came up with it all on her own, What I really love is that she kept it simple - a strong Designer Paper (from the Cherry On Top designer paper stack) with a large sentiment in top. Brilliant! So I started off with her strategy … of course things morphed (as they do …) and this is what I ended up with …

Hmmm - could use a little flash on that one! Quite pretty in person!

*lol* now that I see the two cards together I really have to wonder how my mind works some times. HOW do you go from the large, bold, focal designer paper to a little strip of it and call it the same? lol. Regardless, I LOVE how tis turned out! Not my usual clean and simple … more layers than I like for a Stamp-a-Stack but it;s really pretty.

There - that shows the colours a little better … I used the DSP from the Merry Moments stack. It started as a 1 1/2" x 5 1/4" strip, punched with the banner punch, I used a 1" x 5" strip of Cherry Cobbler (still my favourite red!) and punched the end. I used a 3" x 2 3/4" piece of Whisper White and stamped the Jolly Christmas sentiment in the yummy Archival Black and matted it on a 3" x 3 1/4" piece of Old Olive. I popped the Old Olive on dimensionals. You can't see it well her but the holly beside the word "holly" was coloured a tad by just adding Old Olive and Cherry Cobbler accents. The part that REALLY pulls the whole card together, though, is the "jolly" in the middle. I stamped that part of the sentiment on the same DSP pattern and then cut it out with my paper snips and popped it up on dimensionals. Yes, "fussy cutting" seems barbaric these days with all our fancy thinlits and framelits. Alas - sometimes a crafter 's gotta do what a crafter 's gotta do! Fussy cutting is what I had to do!!! A single rhinestone on the Cherry Cobbler flag finishes this Bad Boy off.

Love it! Just goes to show you don't need a lot of image stamps to make a great card - a large sentiment and some patterned paper along with a few layers can be just right for an awesome card!

Last night I wanted to get to the Craft Cave before my brother came over. Alas - I got into placing an order and 1 1/2 hours later he was here, drink in hand, watching the hockey game before I managed to go down and even say hello! Oh well .. the boys were watching hockey so I hit the Craft Cave, as I could still see the couch and eavesdrop on any conversations I may have needed to jump in on lol. I dug out another new Christmas set I've been wanting to play with … Sparkly Seasons. It was one of the first ones I bought from this catalogue. It has SO much potential, especially since it is bundled with some corresponding thin lets at 15% off. Here is the stamp set and thinlits ...

… and of course here is what I made with them …

Love!!! Notice yet another strong black presence?? Yup - just can't get enough black these days!!! I tried to keep them simple, hoping to use them for my Stamp-a-Stack but I dunno. I like the second one better but there is more colouring involved. Coloring = time = not REAT for a SAS … but we'll see …

For the first card I stamped the globe base (and the snow) in Smoky slate ink. he globe and snowman are in the Archival Black (yum). The sentiments were punched out with the thinlits and the new precision cutting mat/plate thingy. I'm still undecided on that thing. Do you *need* it? No. Is it nice to have - ya I think so. I didn't need wax paper to run these through … and from what I understand using this plate eliminates those annoying little "bumps" that you get when you use the magnetic plate. Hmmm - jury is still out. Anyway! Glued the sentiment on with the Fine Tip Glue Pen. Added some of the new white glitter ribbon (page 29 of the holiday catty if you missed it - you get a roll of white AND a roll of gold in the pack!) to look like fallen snow. I coloured the hat and scarf with my Real Red Marker and the nose with Pumpkin Pie. For the second card I did virtually the same thing - minus the ribbon … and added an enamel dot and three rhinestones. I also omitted the snow falling in the globe - just gives it a REALLY clean look.

Love 'em. Recommend the bundle!

Guess I should go put away the breakfast dishes. Pfthththth. Whatever you get up to, hope you have a stampy afternoon!

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Oh. Em. Gee. It's SUCH a beautiful day out there today. I freaking LOVE fall! It's not EVERY Oct 15th you can walk the dog without socks. I'll take it as long a I can get it!

So last night I had some time on my hands (what?? When does THAT happen?? I must have been procrastinating on SOMETHING … but I can't think of what!) - anyway … *found* some time and wanted to make another Christmas Card for my upcoming Stamp-a-Stack … so off I went. I had a few ideas in mind … but they quickly were relegated into the "nah" pile … and then THIS happened …

It actually took me about 45 minutes to strike on the black/white/grey. I kept trying to make it work with a coloured big ornament. Alas, my Blackberry Bliss got gummy (long story) - my Rich Razzleberry reinker threw up all over my fingers so I got mad and grounded it from being used for a week …. and then my new favourite black sat there looking sad and lonely … kind of like a puppy blinking at me … and it had to be. I've mentioned before how much I LOVE this dark dark dark black ink and that hasn't changed. I ordered 3 more of them today. Yes. It's THAT awesome. But I digress ….

Stamped the large ornament from Embellished Ornaments set in the Archival Black, punched out the smaller ornament in Smoky Slate using the corresponding Delicate Ornament Thinlits (if you buy them as a bundle you save 15%!), stamped the sentiment from "Jolly Christmas" in Archival Black, added 3 rhinestones to the sentiment and a string of 5 rhinestones to the grey ball (which was glued down with the Fine Tip Glue Pen) and Wa-low! one freaking awesome card!

So I think that's it for today. I want to design one more card today … before my brother pops over for a visit (he's here from BC and leaves Saturday morning). So off I go. Thanks for popping in. enjoy the beautiful weather and have a stampy afternoon!!!

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Yawwwwwwwnnnnnnn - I'm SO tired today. I went to the Madonna concert last night. It was so freaking AWESOME!! Alas …. I didn't get to bed until almost 1:00 am. I somehow managed to haul my tired butt out of bed and to the gym … and walk the dog … but now I am dragging. I see a 20 minute nap in my future! So no major post today - just an interesting video on how they make the DSP at Stampin' Up!

Sunday, October 11, 2015

I was toying with a 10 minute "meditation" while I wait for my pumpkin spice cake to finish cooking alas … thought I'd post a project instead :) .My brother and SIL (and their schnauzer Olive!) are in town (they come every Thanksgiving) so we're heading to Mom and Dad's for the annual big turkey feast. This year mom actually let me BRING something! I'm on brussel sprout and dessert duty. I've been wanting to try a brussel sprout recipe I found on pinterest so this is my big chance. Dessert? Home made lemon pie (my FAVE!) … store bought pumpkin pie (not a fan of pumpkin pie but the others are so … and I WOULD have made it from scratch but Craig used my pie dough last month so I only had enough for one pie!) I found another recipe I wanted to try - a pumpkin spice / toffee cake with cream cheese icing … so we now have 3 desserts to choose from. Wa-hoo! lol

So today I'm going to share a stunning card I CASEd from fellow CANADIAN demonstrator Cynthia Millan over at www.stampwithcynthia.blogspot.ca. I deviated very slightly from hers but she gets ALL the credit. Check. It. Out!

Isn't it FAB??? It looks SO awesome in "person"! Pop over to her website to see a video on how she created this, if you are a visual learner. I'll give you the jyst of it here …

The star of the show is the Woodland Embossing Folder. Seriously. This is a MUST have folder for all your masculine cards, sympathy cards and scenery cards. It really is awesome! The back-up star is the "Wonderland" stamp set in the 2015 Holiday Catalogue

Oh sure - you probably COULD use the trees from the Lovely As A Tree set but … well … oh just buy the darned set - it's new and pretty … and has elk antlers! lol

OK so this technique is super easy. you simply open your embossing folder. Apply Soft Sky ink directly to the inside of the folder (on the flap that has the black Sizzix logo on it). You can ink it with a brayer, a sponge or the ink pad itself. It all works. I like just a light inking … and actually removed some of the ink in some spots to make a cloud-like effect. Too juicy = too dark for my liking.

Once you have the Soft Sky applied grab your trees and your Mossy Meadow ink pad, ink the stamp and then stamp directly on the folder (on the same side as you did the blue). I like to make sure I get the tips of the trees on the flat spaces of the folder.

Once inked place your 4 3/4" x 3 1/2" Whisper White card stock on the NON-inked side and close the folder tight. You don't want to lay the card stock on the inked side as it will likely move and smudge when you close the folder.

Keep a tight grasp on the folder as you slide it through your Big Shot. It took me a few tries to get this part right. My Big Shot wasn't a tight enough squeeze to make a nice, crisp embossed image - it came out blurred and quite horrible, really. I had to add a shim … a piece of the backing from our Designer Series Paper cut to 6" x 5". I place the shim under the cutting pad just to make it a "little" tighter … but not too tight (or it cracks the whisper white card stock!). You may have to experiment just a little to see what works best with your machine.

Once you open the folder you have this beautiful, water-colour picture look. It's fabulous!

To bring out the details of the trees a little more very gently sponge a little soft suede on them. It makes the bark stand out.

I added a 1/2" strip of Whisper White and 3/4" strip of Soft Sky for the sentiment … which came from the Crazy About You set, inked in Mossy Meadow. I finished it off with an enamel dot (2015 Holiday Catalogue) and popped it up on dimensionals.

If you want to make more than one of this card you need to run your folder under water to clean it off. As the ink is water based you just hold it under the water - no scrubbing required!

I matted the scene on a 5" x 3 3/4" piece of Mossy Meadow Card stock and wa-low! A beautiful card … that yes, I will likely be using for my Dad's birthday next month. Love it!

Thanks to Cynthia for sharing this little beauty with us. And thanks for popping in. Whatever you get up to today I hope you have a fabulous Thanksgiving surrounded by loved ones. Have a stampy day!

Saturday, October 3, 2015

These bundles are by far two of the most popular items in the 2015 Holiday Catalogue. I believe they are currently on backorder so if you want yours well before Christmas make sure you order one sooner rather than later!

Friday, October 2, 2015

Thought I'd post some videos put out by Stampin' Up! First Up … Fast Fuse. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with this stuff. When I get a new one I love it … but you HAVE to keep the cartridge clean and free of tape build up or you're hooped! … and you can't press too hard or you will crack the tip of it and it will be broken beyond repair :(

About Me

Hello!
I am a SAHM to two GREAT kids, a wife to a GREAT man and a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator living in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. I LOVE all things crafty and I absolutely LOVE what I do! Please know that the content in this blog is my sole respoinsibility as an Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator and the use of and content of this blog is not endorsed by Stampin' Up!
Thank you for popping in - I hope you find a project you like and leave inspired!